Rossi matches previous times in Oz

Three weeks after his last Phillip Island tests… and Rossi’s clocking almost exactly the same time as he did back then – but he still reckons he’s making progress.

His best of 1:30.80 is a tenth of a second slower than Ducati rider Loris Capirossi clocked when he was last at the Australian circuit. But neither time is far off the track record and Rossi says he’s relatively pleased with his new Yamaha. He says he’s spent the test finding his rhythm on the new bike and is feeling much more at home on it now after the three-day test that ended on Thursday.

” Today was a bit of a struggle against the strong winds, making it harder than it was the last time we were here, ” he said.

Defending champion Rossi completed 85 laps on the final day of the test. Fellow Yamaha rider Carlos Checa scored a 1:31.30. Marco Melandri a 1:31.92 and Norick Abe a 1.33.

Compare these times with previous tests. Click here.